A Delhi resident was on Monday fined ₹23,000 by the Gurugram traffic police under the amended Motor Vehicles Act for riding a two-wheeler without a licence, insurance papers, registrati-on certificate, pollution control certificate and helmet.

The offender, Dinesh Madan, a resident of Geeta Colony, claimed that his two-wheeler was worth around ₹15,000. His vehicle was impounded as he was unable to pay the fine on the spot.

Penalty for traffic violations under different heads has gone up several fold following the amendment to the law with effect from September 1.

Mr. Madan, who runs a newspaper advertisement agency in Gurugram, claimed that he was on his way to District and Sessions Court for work when he took off his helmet just a few metres before negotiating a turn on the service lane to the court. “A traffic policeman standing in the corner flagged me down for not wearing the helmet. I called a friend who is an advocate but before he could reach, the policeman asked me for the documents and issued the challan for the violations,” said Mr. Madan.

He claimed that he had all the documents at home but the policeman allowed him only “10 minutes” to get the papers, which was not possible. Mr. Madan said he arranged a photo of the registration certificate on his WhatsApp, but not before the challan was issued.

Digital copy allowed

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Himanshu Garg said it was mandatory to carry original vehicle documents, but carrying them in digital form in DigiLocker was also valid as per the law.

“Not carrying the documents and not having them at all are two different offences with different penalties, although the penalty for the former is far less. In the present case, if the offender produces the original documents, the fine amount would be accordingly reduced,” said Mr. Garg.

Amit, a resident of Jacobpura in Gurugram, was fined ₹24,000 at the same spot and for similar violations as Mr. Madan on Tuesday. On Monday, Mohammad Mustakil, an autorickshaw driver, was fined ₹32,500 for seven violations, including driving without a high security registration number plate.